Perhaps my favorite is Turtle Zone, which Mario enters after being swallowed by a huge sleeping turtle on the overworld map. The locale is split into six zones that throw all convention out the window.
![super mario land 2 space zone super mario land 2 space zone](https://images.nintendolife.com/screenshots/20056/large.jpg)
But, basically nothing is as it seems in this place. You wouldn’t assume this at first, as Mario Land is laid out in a similar manner to Super Mario World’s Dinosaur Island. I had no time to be disappointed that my journey was rapidly approaching its close because I was always being shuffled from one eclectic set piece moment to the next. However, I was never bothered by the runtime because the adventure was continually inventive. I quantify that statement in this respect because Super Mario Land 2 is a very short game. This place is home to more bizarre level concepts than perhaps any 3D Mario game, per square inch.
![super mario land 2 space zone super mario land 2 space zone](https://infinityretro.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Super-Mario-Land-2-screenshot-2.png)
The title takes place on the eponymous island, Mario Land. The reason that I love Land 2 so much is that it embodies the same creativity and variety that the 3D adventures do, but arguably on an even more comprehensive scale. To do so, we have to look back through the lens of the 3D Mario games. Wait! Don’t click off here, either! I want to take a moment to explain why that is. Just when you thought that I couldn’t blaspheme any more in this article, let me just say right here that Super Mario Land 2 is my favorite 2D Mario platformer. But, there is one humongous outlier: Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. For me, that makes it a bit harder to connect to these 2D exploits when I contextualize them against the 3D ones. Naturally, these titles introduced the bulk of Mario’s core cast, but they also fail to present the breadth of ideas that are on display in 3D Mario games. However, they exist within the contexts of the same level themes and characters repeated time and time again. These 2D games are creative and polished, certainly. In my opinion, 2D Mario doesn’t quite achieve that. This is why 3D Mario makes me want to explore and keep exploring. They build worlds with wacky inhabitants and geography that is equally peculiar. These games have a scope and a whimsy and a spark of invention that persists and evolves. When I think of 3D Mario, I think of Piantas and Bonneters, of Conkdor Canyons and Honey Hive Galaxies. However, I never felt like 2D Mario quite hit that same bar. I think that’s why my love of Disney and Nintendo go hand-in-hand and have since I was young. I’ve always loved media that is unabashedly creative and playful. When I get to meet imaginative new faces and places, Mario reminds me of a very particular childlike joy. Every area is lovingly brought to live with all manner of absolutely bizarre characters and concepts. But, while Mario may falter a bit in 2D for me, his 3D platformers are just absolutely unmatched.īeyond their mechanical successes, what I love about 3D Mario – particularly the Galaxy games and Odyssey – is just how unceasingly creative they are. 3 or World, I mean who doesn’t, but they have been superseded by Rare and later Retro’s joint simian series. I still enjoy blasting through a Super Mario Bros. The richness of the worlds, the complexity of the level designs, the placement and utility of collectables – DK’s games just eat Mario’s lunch in my opinion. Everything that 2D Mario pioneered, for my tastes, is brought to a new level by Donkey Kong Country.
![super mario land 2 space zone super mario land 2 space zone](http://www.superluigibros.com/images/sml2_zones/turtlezone.png)
Wait! Don’t click off this article just yet! I do enjoy 2D Mario games for their polish and fun factor, but they just feel a bit basic to me.